by
Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | September 06, 2019
From the September 2019 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
This year’s conference has more focus on health and healthy living, with activities like morning yoga and more healthy eating options. The schedule is less compressed, too, and there’ll be much more time for people to network.
HCB News: Can you give your prediction as to how you think radiation oncology will change over the next 10 years?
TD: I think, number one, radiation oncologists are natural conveners — bringing other medical disciplines together to work on behalf of patients. I think this is both a result of just the nature of those who enter our field as well as how we are trained. So I believe you’ll see multidisciplinary teams across the country more often being led by the radiation oncologist.
I think you’ll see growing importance of the management of patients with more advanced disease. Radiation therapy will be used in combination with immunotherapy, as one example. I don’t just mean for palliative care, but curative care.
I anticipate a growing involvement with radiation pharmaceuticals. This is just another way to deliver radiation therapy to our patients but one where we have great expertise in who to treat, given our oncologic training, as well as in the dosimetry necessary to provide efficacious and safe treatment. Genetic medicine, as I noted before, is going to be a really significant portion of our field — in the research we conduct, the education we provide and the use of it in daily management to guide us to the most optimal and precise care for our patients.
Another growth area for us is research in AI. We need to push forward in this arena to learn how and where AI can be used in our field to guide care we provide, and to do so in an ethical way and in a manner that preserves and enhances the physician-patient relationship.
Something that is very important to me is that we will push hard to create a more diverse radiation oncology workforce-one that will allow ASTRO to have all voices around the table, so that the best decisions can be made. It is also key so we look far more like the patients we see and treat every day. Ultimately, creating change that improves the lives of our patients is most important.
Back to HCB News
